grammar

Poynter Results

Did you spell that word right? Is that an independent clause? That's not a dangling participle, is it? This week, we explore a tool that can help you catch those grammar mistakes.

Hare: Hey! So, what’s our tool this week?

LaForme: I want to do something a little different this week, in that I’m going to share a tool that I really like and ask readers if they use something that they like better. Because I think there have to be good alternatives out there.

Of all the technical advice I offer writers, none is more controversial than encouragement to use the passive voice. Most writers prefer the active, and so do I. But that preference has been distorted to the point of making the passive a taboo, expressed in useless phrases such as “avoid the passive,” or “there is no excuse for the passive,” or, with more humor, “the passive voice should not be used.”

It's great to see that Nate Silver's 538 is finally hitting its stride. Stepping aside from the conflicts of politics and sports, the data site has decided to weigh in on a controversy that truly ignites the passion of partisans. Forget Red States versus Blue States, campers. Forget Brazil vs. Argentina in the World Cup. Want to see the fur fly? Debate the Oxford comma.